A Summer in Ohio
by icanbeperfectforyou
Summary: Natalie and Dan go to visit their estranged family in Ohio. HenNat, minor Finchel, Klaine, Brittana, others. Bad summary. T for language and innapropriateness and whatnot.
1. Chapter 1

**A Summer in Ohio**

"I can't believe it!" Natalie ranted to her boyfriend. "My dad is making me go to Ohio to visit my cousin that I've never even met before! For two whole weeks!"  
>Henry smiled. "I'm sure it will be just fine. It's only two weeks. We can spend the rest of the time together. I promise I'll text you and call you everyday."<br>"My dad says he wants to 'reconnect' with his brother, and that means that I have to spend two weeks with some girl I've never even met," Natalie sighed. "What if I have to spend a ton of time with her and her friends? What if she's weird? What if-what if she's _normal_?"

"I'm sure it'll be just fine, Nat," Henry laughed. "Maybe you'll actually enjoy yourself. You know, get relaxed. Take a vacation away from all your stress...and me."  
>"I don't want to leave you, though," whined Natalie. "What will you do while I'm gone? Sit around and smoke all day?"<br>"Don't worry about me," Henry said gently. "What's your cousin's name, anyway?"

Natalie glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. "Rachel Berry."

**A/N: Hi! This will be my first attempt at a multi-chap fic, so come on and enjoy the ride! Also, one million interwebs to the person who knows what I'm referencing in the title. Don't worry-this is just a little prologue, most chapters will be longer!**


	2. Chapter 2

The moment Natalie got into the airport, she pulled out her phone and began texting. _Hey,_ she texted, _I made to Ohio. Woohoo. _

Henry texted back quickly. _I miss you already, and you've only been gone a few hours._ _Hey...what's your cousin's address? _Natalie frowned. Why did he want to know that? Still, she asked her dad and replied to Henry.

She typed the address and added, _Why?_ Henry replied, _You'll see.. ;)_

"Natalie!" Dan called. "Here are the Berrys! Put away your phone!" Natalie grudgingly pocketed her cell and turned around. Two men and a teenage girl about Natalie's age were standing with smiles.

"Natalie, this is my brother, Hiram, his partner, Leroy, and their daughter, Rachel." Rachel beamed and stuck out her hand.

"Hello, I'm Rachel, I'm so excited to finally meet you!" Natalie stared at her hand. Rachel awkwardly dropped it.

"Rachel has been so thrilled for this. She's been talking about it for weeks." said-Leroy? Natalie wasn't quite sure.

They grabbed their bags and headed out to the car.

"So..." said Rachel as they sat in the back. "How old are you?"

"Seventeen. I'm going to be a senior." said Natalie without looking up from her phone.

"Oh, that's so cool, so am I!" said Rachel excitedly. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Fun?" asked Natalie. "Oh, no, with my schedule, I don't exactly have time for 'fun'."

"Well, then, what do you do in your free time? I sing. And I act. And I dance. I'm in the glee club at my school. The New Directions. Maybe you could see us perform!" Rachel babbled.

"Free time? Well, I do my homework, I play piano, and...I hang out with Henry." replied Natalie.

"Ooh, maybe you could play the piano and I could sing! Who's Henry?" Rachel said going a mile a minute.

"Henry? Well, he's my boyfriend, I guess." Natalie said boredly. _Do you ever shut up? _she thought.

"I have a boyfriend too! His name is Finn, and he is the sweetest, handsomest guy ever. Maybe you could meet him." Rachel was practically bouncing in her seat.

"We're here!" announced-Hiram, was it? They got out of the car and entered the large house.

"You'll be sleeping in here!" said Rachel proudly, showing Natalie her guest bedroom. It was rather plain, with beige walls and beige carpets. It had a king size bed with navy blue sheets. Still, it was neatly decorated.

"And here's the bathroom, and my room is right next to here, if you need me!" Rachel said with a flourish. Natalie plopped her suitcase on the bed and unzipped it. Sitting on the top was a note. A note? Natalie didn't remember placing a piece of paper in there.

"What's that?" asked Rachel. So Natalie picked it up and began to read aloud.

_"Hey Nat," _it began, "_I guess you made it to your cousin's. If you haven't, well, my plan failed. But if you have, cool. I miss you, even though while I'm writing this you haven't even left yet. Anyway, I just added a few things I noticed that you forgot to pack. _Forgot to pack? What?" said Natalie, breaking away. Rachel motioned for her to keep reading. "_So I added them for you. Love you. -Henry"_ He had doodle a tiny heart next to his name. Rachel was smiling with her hand on her heart.

"Aww, how sweet!" she cooed. "What did he add?"

"Henry is such a girl," sighed Natalie. She began to pull things out. "Let's see... a piano book, filled with jazz music," she rolled her eyes, flipping through the pages. "A picture of us at the spring formal dance-that's Henry," she pointed for Rachel. She took the picture and studied it. "And...my blue dress. Gee thanks, Henry."

"Aww, you have such a sweet boyfriend," smiled Rachel. Then there was a knock on the door. Natalie's dad walked in.

"So Rachel, your dad's were telling me you are going to a party tonight. Maybe you could bring Natalie!" he said with a smile that said, _Come on, Natalie. Just do it._

"Oh, no, I don't really do parties-" Natalie tried to start, but Rachel cut her off.

"That would be great!" Rachel squealed. "It's a pool party at Brittany's, and all the glee club is going to be there! It will be so much fun!"  
>"Yeah, fun," muttered Natalie sarcastically. She pulled out her phone and texted Henry.<p>

_I get to go to a pool party w/ Rachel's glee club. Kill me now._

_ It'll be fine,_ Henry replied. _Besides, they'll get to see you in a swimsuit. ;)_

Natalie rolled her eyes._ F U, Henry._

**A/N: Hi. I like reviews. Just putting it out there.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Look, I really don't think this is a good idea," Natalie protested, getting out of Rachel's car. They had made it to Brittany's house.

"It'll be great! Don't worry, they aren't mean or anything," Rachel said with a smile.

"Right, because the last time someone told me it was going to be great my mom ended up making a birthday cake for someone who doesn't exist," Natalie muttered. Rachel gave her a strange look. "It's nothing," Natalie said quickly. _God, why did I say that? I'm so stupid! _she thought.

Rachel pushed open the gate. "I have arrived!" she announced loudly. Around the pool, there were several teenagers, lounging around and chatting. "Oh, there's Kurt!" Rachel squealed, pulling Natalie towards a tall pale kid. Rachel was wearing a floral pink tankini with a matching skirt. Natalie had opted for a plain navy blue one-piece.

"Kurt, this is my cousin, Natalie Goodman. Natalie, this my best friend, Kurt, and his boyfriend, Blaine," Rachel beamed. Kurt gave her a little wave and smiled. Natalie just stood there. Blaine reminded her of Henry, in a way. Maybe it was the eyebrows. _Wait...did she say boyfriend?_

"Where's Finn?" Rachel asked. _Finn..._ thought Natalie, _Right. Her boyfriend. _"He was at Puck's. I think they were coming together." On cue, a tall boy walked in with a shorter boy with a mohawk. The tall one walked over while mohawk walked inside. Rachel gave him a kiss. _That must be Finn._

"Finn! This is my cousin, Natalie Goodman." Rachel said. Then she pointed everyone out. "That's Brittany-this is her pool," she explained, "that's her best friend Santana, that's Tina and her boyfriend Mike, that's Mercedes, Sam, Artie...where are Quinn and Lauren? And Puck went inside," Kurt shrugged.

Puck walked back outside. "Looking good, Lopez!" he shouted to Santana, who was wearing a bright red bikini. Santana flipped him off. Natalie decided she liked this girl. "Look what I got!" he said, holding up..._oh God. Liquor. Booze. Alcoholic drinks. _Natalie suddenly wanted to leave. _Henry, there's beer _she texted hastily. He quickly sent his reply.

_ Don't._

"Here, Rachel 2," said Brittany, holding out a cup. "I don't drink," declined Natalie.

"Oh, come on, Goody-two-shoes Goodman," said Santana. "It won't kill you."

"Look, she said no Santana, please respect that," Rachel said gently.

"Well, if she's going to be boring, we can still have fun," she said reaching for the drink. "Oh. Whoops," Santana smirked, spilling it all over Natalie. "So sorry."

Natalie didn't know how to react. She was invisble-usually. Now she was the center of attention. The glee club was watching the two girls intently. "Natalie, it's okay," said Rachel softly.

"No. It's not okay," said Natalie, her anger taking over as it often did. "Picking on the girl? How nice. You don't know me. You don't know what shit I've dealt with this past year. You don't understand how this-" she threw the cup on the ground-"you don't know what this kind of stuff can do to you. What it can do to others. Your friends. Family. And then you find yourself on the floor of some club, and your boyfriend is carrying you away, telling you to stop, and you just can't. You don't know." And with that, Natalie shoved Santana into the pool and walked away.

"Natalie!" called Rachel.

But Natalie was gone.

_ Natalie? _her phone buzzed. _What's happening?_

She let out a harsh laugh. _They tried to get me to drink._

_ And?_

_ And I yelled and screamed and shoved a girl into a pool._

_ Nat?_

_ What, Henry. _Natalie rolled her eyes, expecting him to be angry and yell at her or some crap like that.

_ I love you._


	4. Chapter 4

Natalie threw the Berry's front door open and stormed up the stairs.

"Natalie, wait-" Rachel called but was answered with the sound of a door slamming. Then the door reopened, and Natalie angrily walked out, now dressed back in her normal clothes. She sat down at the grand piano and lightly ran her fingers over the keys. Real ivory. This was an old piano, at least over a hundred years old. She began to play a classical song.

"Natalie, I-" Rachel began, but Natalie wasn't paying attention, just playing. Rachel walked into the kitchen where her dads and Dan were standing. They looked confused.

"I thought you were at a party," said Leroy. Rachel replied, "Natalie had a...minor freak out, which involved shoving Santana into a pool." They all turned to Dan.

"Can't say it was unexpected," he sighed. "Natalie's been a little...unstable, ever since she was old enough to understand what her mother was going through." Rachel looked confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Hiram gently put his hand on her shoulder. "She should probably tell you herself. She might not want you to know now." Rachel sighed. Then the lovely music was cut off with a sudden missed key. A few f-words were heard. The music began again but it was different now. Angry. Loud. And now it was jazz. Then that stopped too, and Natalie ran up the stairs and the door slammed again.

Rachel softly knocked on the door. "Can I come in, Natalie?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Just a second, Henry," she said, lowering her phone. "What do you want." she said flatly.

"Well," Rachel began, "I was going to record my daily video of me singing and I was wondering if you would like to be my audience," she said brightly.

Natalie sighed. "Sure. Why not. Henry, I have to go. Talk to you later. Bye. ...Love you too." She got up off the bed and entered Rachel's room. It was bright. Like, really bright. And there were stuffed animals. It looked more like a seven-year-old's room instead of a seventeen-year-old's.

"Just take a seat on my bed, and I will get rolling!" Rachel beamed. Natalie boredly sat down and waited while Rachel set up her camera. Rachel began to sing. Natalie didn't recognize the song, but Rachel was good. Really good. Rachel finished with a long note. She turned off the camera and turned around.

"So, what did you think?" she asked excitedly. "You were great," Natalie said honestly. Rachel's smile grew even bigger. "Well, I do plan on becoming a famous Broadway singer/actress/dancer. What are your plans?"

"Well, I was planning on getting into Yale early, but that obviously didn't happen, especially after what happened at my recital," she said, looking down. "What happened?" Rachel asked. "It's a long story-you don't want to hear about my issues," replied Natalie.

Rachel gently sat down next to her. "I've got time."

"If you really want to know, my parents didn't come, I fucked up, I started screaming about the problem with classical music, and Henry pretty much had to carry me off the stage," Rachel just sat there. "And this is why I didn't want to tell you. Because no one wants to hang out with the girl who's mom is crazy. The invisible girl." Natalie stormed off again.

_She storms out just as well as I do, _Rachel mused.

"_Dr. Madden, what are you doing here?" asked Natalie. "I have bad news," replied Dr. Madden. "Your mother killed herself. She said she would rather be happy with her son than miserable with you." He laughed harshly._

_ "No, that can't be possible, can't be true-" but another person had entered. It was him. Her dead older brother._

_ "Of course it is. She always preferred ME. Even though I wasn't even there. What did you call me?...Superboy. That's right. Mom always loved me the most. You were nothing but a replacement. Second best." He too began to laugh._

_ Suddenly, Henry was there too. "Henry," Natalie cried, rushing towards him. "They're lying, please say they're lying-" Henry began to speak._

_ "Why would I love you? You have problems. You're crazy. I'm leaving you. I found another girl. She's thinner than you-"_

_ "No-"_

_ "Prettier than you-"_

_ "NO-"_

_ "And NORMAL!"_

"NO!" Natalie screamed, suddenly awakening. She bolted upright, drenched in a cold sweat. The door slowly creaked open. But it wasn't her mom, her brother, or Dr. Madden, or Henry.

It was Rachel.

"Natalie, I heard screaming, is everything-" then she noticed the crying. "It's okay," she said soothingly. "It was a bad dream. Maybe it will help if you talk it out..." So Natalie poured her heart out. She told her everything. The death, delusions, the drugs, the ECT, even about Henry. Rachel just sat and nodded. Natalie finished, seeming like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Good night, Natalie," Rachel said, even though it was 2:13 in the morning. She got up and left.

Natalie sank down into her bed, but before she went back to sleep, she grabbed her phone. She sent a text to Henry.

_Thank you for always loving me._

**A/N: Hey! I feel like I wrote a lot today. You may have noticed I update this pretty much daily. That may not always happen. I update when I feel like writing...which happens to be every day. Shout out to Tipsu, for being the only one to review...I would like more reviews...I'll bribe you. If you review, I'll even read your stories. I get reviews, you get free advertisement, it's a win-win deal. K? K. Bye.**


	5. Chapter 5

Natalie walked down the stairs quietly. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen. Rachel's voice. Her dad's voice. Her name was said. They were talking about her. Natalie entered the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too." she said. "Natalie-" Dan said warningly, but Rachel cut him off. "Natalie, would you like me too make you some tea? Coffee?" Natalie shook her head. "I'll just have a granola bar."

Rachel smiled at Natalie. "Natalie, I'm going over to Kurt's house today," _Kurt. Kurt. Right-the tall pale one. Her best friend._ "And I was wondering if maybe you would like come." Natalie shrugged. "Sure. Why not." she said unenthusiastically. Rachel beamed and stood up. "Great. I'm going to get ready. Oh, and Natalie-" she said, looking her up and down, "bring your suitcase." She flounced up the stairs, leaving Natalie and Dan confused in the kitchen.

"Here we are!" Rachel said, bouncing out of the car. Natalie stared at her. "Do you ever run out of energy?" Rachel giggled and rang the doorbell. Natalie rolled her eyes and pulled her suitcase out of the car. Kurt answered the door with a smile. "Hello Rachel, Natalie." Then his eyes got wide. "Suitcase? Does this mean what I think it means?" Rachel nodded. Kurt clapped his hands together. "What? What is it?" asked Natalie impatiently. _Is this what friends do? _she thought.

Kurt let out a tiny squeal. "Makeover!" _Oh God no,_ thought Natalie horrified.

They were in Kurt's room. He was rummaging through her suitcase. "So, Natalie, how do you usually dress?" Natalie shrugged. She hadn't really thought about it. "Well, I wear jeans and a shirt with a jacket on top, and I usually push the sleeves up..." Kurt sighed and shook his head. "Well, that won't do, now will it?" Natalie's phone buzzed. Kurt's eyes lit up. "Who's that?"

"Henry." Natalie answered, flipping her phone open to read the text. "Is that your boyfriend?" Kurt teased. Natalie nodded. "How cute. How did you two meet?"

"I was practicing piano one day at school, and he walked in, and...yeah." Natalie explained. "Aww," said Kurt. "Was it love at first sight?" Natalie shook her head. "Well, we spent weeks in the practice room, playing piano. But it's not like we just met. He had kinda been stalking me for like six years. He sat behind me or whatever. But I didn't exactly know that."

Kurt nodded like he had been through the exact same thing. "Oh, that's a cute dress!" he exclaimed, pulling out her blue dress. "So why do you love Henry? What's your favorite thing about him?" Natalie glared at him. "Don't try pretending that Rachel didn't already tell you everything." Rachel looked down guiltily. Kurt's smile faltered. "Let's get this makeover started!" He began to pick out eyeliners and mascara and such.

"What sort of make up do you wear?" he asked. "None, really," said Natalie. Kurt smiled. "You will look fab when I'm done!" He studied her face. "You know," he began, "You look a lot like a young Liza Minnelli!" Rachel gasped. "She so does!" Natalie had no clue who Liza Minnelli was. But she was hoping it was a compliment.

Kurt spent hours putting on make up, straightening her hair, styling her hair, and picking out her clothes. It was torture to Natalie. Kurt would start to do one thing, and the wipe it off and start again. It was a major relief when he finally was done. She looked in the mirror and was surprised. She had never looked so beautiful.

"What do you think?" Kurt asked excitedly. "I...I love it," Natalie said honestly. Rachel smiled. "You look beautiful." She took out her phone and snapped a picture, and the did the same with Kurt's phone. Kurt took Natalie's phone and snapped a picture, and texted it to Henry. Natalie spun around, the blue dress floating gently. Kurt beamed. "You look just like young Liza Minnelli! Possibly my best work yet! It isn't often I get a new face to make over."

Natalie actually smiled a little. "Thank you," she said. Her phone buzzed with a new text from Henry.

_Looking good. ;)_

Natalie rolled her eyes. _Henry, you abuse the wink face. And all emoticons._

_ You don't like them? :'(_

_ Just stop it, Henry._

_ D: Well maybe you text my name too much. I know I'm Henry already._

_ Shut up, you love it when I say your name._

_ :( Why are you so abusive to me?_

Kurt began talking, snapping Natalie out of her texting. "So, Natalie, did Rachel tell yo why we're here?" Natalie stared at him blankly. "No? Well, we are planning a duet, and we were wondering if you would accompany us on the piano!" Natalie agreed to, and so that's how she ended up sitting at Kurt's piano, playing some song she didn't recognize. Kurt and Rachel sounded great.

When they finished, Natalie applauded them. "Wonderful," she said with a faint smile. Kurt and Rachel both grinned. "You were a great pianist, too," replied Kurt. "Well," Natalie said, "I am trying to get into Yale, so I practice every day." "It definitely shows." Rachel said.

"Natalie, we have to go now! Bye Kurt!" Rachel said, glancing at the time. _I made a friend, _Natalie mused. _And he doesn't think I'm a freak. Not bad._

Natalie was laying on Rachel's bed, having finished watching her sing. Rachel was uploading the video. Natalie sighed at the texts she was getting from Henry.

_Just ask her. Please? :)_

_ Fine._

_ Yay! :D_

Natalie looked up at Rachel. "Rachel, do you mind if I use your computer to Skype Henry? You can stay and chat," she asked. Rachel smiled. "Of course!" she said, stepping up from the computer. Natalie typed in _NatalieLovesHenry_. "Nice screenname," commented Rachel. Natalie rolled her eyes. "Henry set it up." She clicked on Henry's name, _HenryLovesNatalie._ Henry's face appeared on the computer screen.

"Hey!" he said, grinnning uncontrollably. "Hey," said Natalie. "Oh, this is Rachel," she said, gesturing towards Rachel. She gave a winning smile and a little wave. But her smile disappeared. "Is that a-bong?" she asked, pointing to the screen. Henry shoved it to the ground. "Uh, no..." Natalie sighed.

"I see you've found a way to entertain yourself," she said dryly. "I wasn't smoking...I was, uh, cleaning." Henry protested. "Right," said Natalie sarcastically. "Anyway, so I saw your mom at Costco today," Henry said. Natalie looked worried. "You didn't-I mean, she didn't, freak out again, did she?" she said, dropping her tone.

"No, she was fine," Henry replied. "She was nice, actually. Just wondering how I was and how we were doing."

They skyped for hours. Rachel asked questions about their relationship, Natalie was genuinely happy, and all was well. It was getting late, so they had to leave.

"Love you, Henry," Natalie smiled. "Love you too. Oh, and check your mail tomorrow. Uh, Rachel's mail." "Why?" asked Natalie. "Bye!" said Henry.

_What the hell does he mean? _Natalie thought.

**A/N: No new reviewers? So either you guys are really shy, or only one person is actually reading this. Which according to my traffic stats is not true. Don't be shy! Here, I'll give you a discussion topic. While writing this story, I become Natalie. I channel all my anger into here. I realized that Natalie and Rachel are really alike. So here's a thing to discuss-the similarities between the two. Go.**


	6. Chapter 6

Natalie walked down the stairs, and once again saw Rachel sitting with her dad. The moment she entered the kitchen, Rachel bounced up. "Natalie!" she smiled. "This came in the mail for you," she said, handing an envelope over to her. Natalie opened it. A smile slowly grew on her face as she read it.

_Hey Nat,_

_ It's me, your awesome boyfriend. So this is the part in those romantic movies where you open the door and there I would be, smiling. Well my mom wouldn't let me fly here alone even though I'm 17 and she didn't want to pay for a plane ticket. Anyway so here's a letter. Not as romantic but well you get the point._

_ So yeah. I really don't know what I'm supposed to write because I haven't really written a letter before. Don't forget me. Uh I don't know what to put now. Hi? Bye? I miss you? I love you?(not really a question) Is your cousin there? Hi Natalie's cousin. How's Ohio? Why am I writing these questions? Do I expect a reply? It would be nice to get one...(hint hint)_

_ This is weird, like I'm talking to myself. Is this awkward? Do you think I'm stupid? You do don't you. You're thinking that right now. That I'm a dork. Ok :( But you love me anyway...right? Please? Because I love you...a lot. And these two weeks better go by really really fast. I have really nothing to do without you here. Sad but true._

_ Well I'm going to go study...keep up my academics over the summer...oh who am I kidding. I'm going to watch Friends reruns and eat popcorn and cry. Bye._

_ I love you (but you already knew that)- Henry_

Natalie smiled when she saw Henry's name signed with a large heart next to it. Rachel let out an "Awww" at the letter. "Henry is such a girl," Natalie said, rolling her eyes, but she was smiling.

"Finn wrote me a love letter once," said Rachel. "He told me that I was 'awesomer than an eleven kill streak. '" She smiled faintly at the memory. "Speaking of Finn, I'm spending the whole day with him, but don't fret, I arranged for you to go to the mall with Kurt, Blaine, and Mercedes. I'm sure she would love to have another girl there." She looked hopefully up at Natalie. Natalie sighed. "Why the hell not." "Language," Dan scolded. Natalie rolled her eyes and went upstairs to get ready.

Natalie didn't know Kurt that well, and she knew Blaine and Mercedes way less. But she could see how they were Rachel's friends. They were all divas. Mercedes was talking to Natalie.

"I'm glad you're here, white girl," she said. "Otherwise, I would have been a third wheel." Natalie nodded, looking through the racks. "What are you looking for?" asked Mercedes.

"I'm looking for a souvenir for my boyfriend," explained Natalie. She sighed angrily. "I have no idea why the hell Rachel sent me here with you guys. No offense. But what the hell could she be doing with Finn _all day_?" Mercedes raised her eyebrows. "Probably making out," she explained. "Really? That's what couples do here?" Mercedes glanced over at Kurt, who was flirtily trying on scarves for Blaine. "Yeah."

Natalie pulled out a wristband that had piano keys on it. "Perfect." Mercedes looked at it strangely. "A wristband?" Natalie shrugged. "Henry's weird." Natalie didn't know what to get Henry. How the hell could she give him a dumb little present, after what he had done for her? Picking her up at clubs after she passed out from the drugs. Natalie didn't have any friends, and wasn't exactly a master of relationships, but she was pretty sure most 17 year old boys didn't do that for their girlfriends.

Mercedes smiled at Natalie. "What do you say we ditch the lovers over there and go pick up some lunch at the food court?" Natalie agreed and they were on there way.

Natalie cautiously opened the Berry's front door. "Hello? Is anyone home?" Natalie was a little scared. It reminded her of times when she would come home from school, only to find that her dad had to rush her mom to the doctor. Natalie could hear music coming from upstairs. She walked up and passed Rachel's door. She peered inside. Rachel was lying on her bed...making out with Finn. Natalie dashed to her guest room and shut the door. She totally felt like a creeper. Natalie shook her head to clear her thoughts. As much as she hated to admit it, she had kind of enjoyed her day at the mall. After her and Mercedes got lunch, they went and tried on a bunch of clothes. It took over an hour for Kurt and Blaine to realize they had gone.

Natalie flopped down onto the bed. Her dad had gone to some business party with Rachel's dads-her uncles. Natalie didn't know what to do. So she texted Henry.

_Just saw Rachel making out w/ her bf. Words can't explain the creepiness I am currently feeling._

_ How thrilling. Guess what I'm doing? :D_

_ What, Henry. Please tell me. I'm dying to know._

_ You could have just asked without the sarcasm. _

_ Really, tell me. Watching Friends?_

_ You got my letter? :D What did you think?_

_ ...it was adorable._

_ Yay! Anyway, I'm working on a super secret present for you!_

_ Henry..._

_ Nat..._

_ Don't ever change, Henry._


	7. Chapter 7

"A slumber party? Really?" asked Natalie. Rachel bit her lip nervously. "Well, it's a glee girls plus Kurt sleepover. We have them a lot-we have to all at least somewhat like each other if we want to win Nationals. I'm sure Santana will have forgiven you," she said. Natalie folded her arms. "I don't exactly 'do' sleepovers." Dan entered the kitchen to grab some coffee.

"Nat, you had a slumber party once," he said, remembering. Natalie shot him a warning glare. "If I remember correctly, your mother tried to make ice cream sundaes."

Natalie sighed angrily. "Yes, and I was the one cleaning the chocolate syrup off of the ceiling! Wasn't that just a grand old time? Remember when the girls all cried and called their parents to pick them up? The party hadn't even been going on for an hour!" Natalie stormed up the stairs.

"The party starts at four," Rachel called up after her, but she was responded with the slam of a door. Rachel sighed. Dan looked at her apologetically.

"I would say something reassuring right now, but I think it's best if you leave Natalie alone until your party tonight." Rachel nodded sadly and silently left the kitchen.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachel beamed proudly at the set-up she had in her basement. The perfect array of snacks. The room for the sleeping bags. The guests happily chatting.

"You all remember Natalie, right?" Rachel announced.

Santana spoke up. "Well, if it isn't Little Miss Shoves-a-lot," she said sweetly.

Rachel glanced at Natalie. "Santana, Natalie is really sorry-"

"No I'm not." Natalie cut in. Rachel glared at her. Natalie shrugged. "What, I'm not sorry. I'm perfectly fine with shoving _bitches _into pools."

Santana stood up. "Oh, _hold up._" Rachel stepped in quickly.

"I made a vegan pizza-" Santana made a retching noise. "-but there's also a normal pepperoni pizza for you murderers." She glared at the girls.

Natalie grabbed a slice of the vegan pizza. She shrugged off Rachel's surprised stares. "I'm a vegetarian."

Rachel walked over to Kurt. "Where's Quinn? Did she get my invitation? I did send all them, right?" she racked her memory. Kurt gently patted her shoulder.

"Rachel, you looked over the invitations fifteen times before you sent them. She definitely got it." Rachel didn't look reassured.

Someone called for a game of truth or dare, and somehow, Natalie ended up playing it. Santana smirked when it was her turn.

"I choose Goody-Two-Shoes Goodman," she said, looking at Natalie. "Truth or dare."

"Truth," Natalie said without really thinking. Santana's grin grew larger.

"I heard your mom tried to kill herself. Are you really that sucky of a daughter?" Natalie stood up angrily.

"What did you just say?" she asked, feeling the rage boil up.

Santana looked up innocently. "What? Can't handle the fact that mommy doesn't love you?" She stood up, too.

For a while, nobody said anything. The two girls stared at each other. Natalie looked like she was about to kill her. Suddenly, Natalie ran out of the room.

She dashed up the stairs, up to the guest room. She pulled out her phone and selected Henry's name. She held the phone up to her ear, her hands shaking.

_Hey, it's Henry, I'm not here so leave a message! _Voicemail. "Fuck," she muttered. She tried again. And again. And again. It came clear that Henry wasn't going to answer.

"Fuck!" She yelled. "Pick up your fucking phone, Henry! I-I need you," she broke down into sobs. Henry wouldn't answer. Now what?

Cautiously, she selected a new name from the phone. She waited, tensely, as the phone rang. And rang. Would this work?

A voice answered the phone. "Hello?" The voice Natalie needed to hear.

Natalie replied, her voice barely above a whisper. "Mom?"

**A/N: Merry Christmas! Hope you had a great holiday! PS: you should check out my other stories! I posted a new one, and I will be posting a Finchel story soon :) so stay tuned!**


	8. Chapter 8

"Natalie?" Diana's voice came from the phone. Natalie didn't say anything. She just cried.

"Natalie, what's wrong?" asked Diana, sounding very concerned. Natalie explained it all, while Diana just listened.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Diana asked when Natalie had finished her ranting.

"You said you wanted to be a better mother, so here's your chance," snapped Natalie. She let out a shaky sigh. "Just...please help me," she whispered.

"I want you to go back to your party. You have to forgive her and move on. But if she tries to hurt you in any way again, give her a piece of your mind. Make her sorry for what she did," suggested Diana.

"I'll try, Mom. Thank you," Natalie murmured. Diana smiled. "Go." Natalie hung up. But she didn't leave. She curled up and cried.

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Rachel curled up on the floor and cried. "I ruined everything! This a horrible idea. I was stupid to think Natalie and I could be friends." Kurt sat down next to her and gently wrapped his arm around her.

"Shh, don't be upset. There's nothing you can do now," he said comfortingly. "Santana and Natalie just aren't compatible. Natalie was nice to Mercedes and Blaine. None of this is your fault."

Rachel wiped her eyes and sighed. "I know, I know." she said. "I just really wanted us to all be a big happy glee family." Kurt raised an eyebrow at this.

"Are we ever?" he asked. Rachel smiled and stood up.

"Thank you, Kurt," she said. Kurt smiled back.

"Why don't you go get some more snacks, and I'll try to sort this all out." Rachel nodded and ran up the stairs.

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Santana ran to the bathroom. She turned on the faucets to hide the sound of her sobbing. Someone turned them off. She looked up to see Brittany.

"San, don't waste water. The mermaids will get angry." she explained. Santana turned to give her an odd look, but seeing Brittany's face made her cry even harder. Brittany gently wrapped her arms around Santana.

"Why am I such a bitch, Brittany?" Santana whispered.

"Don't be mean to yourself," said Brittany. "I think you're perfect." Santana looked up at her.

"You-you really think so?"

Brittany nodded. "That's why you have to apologize. Tell her you didn't really mean it. You don't have to be enemies."

Santana pulled away. "Sometimes, I think you're smarter than me." She left the bathroom and climbed up the stairs.

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Natalie heard a knock at her door. "Go away, Rachel!" she called. The door opened anyway.

"It's not Rachel," came a voice. Natalie looked up. It was Santana.

"What the hell do you want?" asked Natalie angrily. Santana sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Look, I don't want to be here any more than you want me to be here. But I have to." She nervously glanced towards the door. "Brittany told me to come apologize. So here I am."

Suddenly, Natalie realized what. "I should apologize for shoving you into that pool. This past year, I was a drug addict. I took my mom's antidepressant pills. I got totally fucked up and went partying at clubs. My boyfriend would drag me off the floor. It sucked, basically." Natalie sighed. "You love Brittany, don't you." It wasn't really a question. Santana looked at the floor. "You're afraid she doesn't love you back." No answer. "I tried to push away my boyfriend. I tried to convince myself I didn't love him. But he never gave up." She looked at Santana. "Now...he's my best friend. My love. I couldn't live without him." Santana was slowly nodding.

"That's how I feel about Brittany," Santana said quietly.

"Don't give up on Brittany. Henry didn't give up on me, and we couldn't be happier. Deep down, she loves you. She needs to realize it. It might take a while, but she will. It all worked out for me. I hope it can for you." Natalie smiled faintly at Santana.

"I haven't told anyone. My parents..." she faltered. Natalie took her hand. Santana smiled at her. "Thank you." She stood up. "I'm going back downstairs." she called. Natalie stood and followed her.

Rachel beamed as Natalie and Santana returned. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

Natalie glanced at Santana, who was giggling with Brittany. A small smile grew on her face. "Yeah, everything's fine."

**A/N: So it's Christmas break, and lucky for you readers, I have no friends, and I'm really sort of invisible to my family, so I will most likely be updating everyday! Expect some nice, long chapters! Happy holidays :)**


	9. Chapter 9

Natalie woke up to her phone buzzing. "Henry..." she groaned. _Why is he texting so early?_ she thought. She turned over and checked her phone. It was 11:13 AM. _Oops._ The girls and Kurt had stayed up late, gossiping and playing truth or dare and other things Natalie guessed people did at sleepovers. She checked her texts.

_Natalie? Nat I just got your voicemails whats going on_

_ Nat my mom took away my phone because we were supposed to be "bonding"_

_ Nat? You there? Please don't be mad my mom doesn't like you you know that_

_ Nat please answer_

_ I love you_

_ Call me Nat_

_ No wait I'll call you_

_ Why aren't you answering_

_ Please answer_

_ you're freaking me out nat_

_ if i did anything im sorry just please talk to me_

There were many more texts like this. Natalie rolled her eyes, but she thought it was sweet how he cared. She glanced around the room. Everyone was still asleep.

_Hey Henry._

_ Oh my God Nat what is happening why wouldn't you text me or call me_

_ It was that bitch who I shoved in a pool. No worries though I called my mom and all is ok._

_ You called your mom? Must have been bad_

_ Henry everything is ok now you can use punctuation again._

_ Nat you just had me worried sick. Which sounds cheesy but it's true. I thought something terrible had happened._

_ It was nothing, really._

_ Right. Nothing. That's why you were sobbing and swearing._

_ ..._

_ I love you Nat. Please call me so we can sort this all out._

Natalie sighed. She got up and snuck out of the basement. She dashed up the stairs into her guest room. She called Henry.

"Hey," came Henry's voice after one ring.

"Hey," replied Natalie.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help you sooner," he apologized. "My mom made me spend time with her. We watched some movies and she took away my phone. She says I talk to you too much."

"Considering all you do is talk to me, play piano, and smoke pot, I think she has a good reason to say that," said Natalie.

"Natalie, I love you," said Henry earnestly. Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"Really. I had no clue," she said sarcastically. Henry sighed.

"Natalie, if you ever need me, you know I'm here. No matter what."

"No matter what," Natalie agreed. She smiled. "Henry, I have to get back to my slumber party. They'll be waking up soon. I love you."

"I love you more," Henry replied.

"We'll see about that. Goodbye, Henry." She hung up and went back downstairs. She felt like she was soaring. She laid back into her sleeping bag. The other girls and Kurt were waking up.

Rachel bounced into the room, having been awake for hours. "Time to get up! I made pancakes!" she said cheerfully. Everyone groaned.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They were eating breakfast when suddenly Natalie dropped her fork. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she muttered. Everyone looked at her concernedly.

"Natalie..." started Rachel, but Natalie stood up. She kept saying "fuck" over and over. "Natalie, what's wrong?" asked Rachel.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" asked Natalie. "I haven't been practicing piano. I need to practice every day if I want to get into Yale. And I sure as hell do. I have to get away," she said. She quickly ran over to the Berry's grand piano. She began to play. The girls and Kurt all looked at each other. Still, they continued eating.

After breakfast, one of the girls came over by the piano. Tammy? Tara? No, Tina. "So," she began. "You want to get into Yale."

Natalie briefly glanced at her. "No, I _need _to get into Yale. It's my plan. Get all A's, get a full ride, get as far away from my family as I can. I tried to get an early admit, but," she paused in playing. "It didn't work out." She shook her head and continued playing. Tina nodded like she understood.

"You're really good," she said. Natalie raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, let's hope the Yale admissions committee thinks that too."

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All the girls and Kurt left, and now it was just Rachel, Natalie, and Dan. Rachel's dads were at work.

"Natalie, I have to go out, is there anything you need?" Rachel asked. Natalie shrugged.

"Just get me some Red Bull, and I'll be fine," she said. Dan raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit. Oh, by the way, this package came for you in the mail," Rachel explained, handing Natalie a box.

Natalie opened it. Inside was a teddy bear. It wore a shirt that said _Henry._ A note was with it.

_Hey Nat,_

_ Saw this bear at the store and thought you might like it. I can't always be there physically for you but this Henry bear can. You know, you can cuddle it at night when I'm not there and whatnot. I just said whatnot. Weird. We're far apart but we're still together. Anyway I have one that says Natalie. One meaning a teddy bear. Haha wow I'm cheesy. But you love me. Right? Right. Miss you._

_ Lots of love,_

_ Henry _

_PS No I'm not high._

_ PPS OK maybe just a little._

Natalie sent Henry a picture of her and the teddy bear.

_I have a new boyfriend now._

Henry sent a picture of him making a pouty face with his bear.

_Ok :(_

_ Who am I kidding I can't stay mad at you. Let's get back together. Love you._

_ I love you more. :)_

_ Well I love you the most._

_ I love you infinity._

_ This is getting way too cheesy. I promised myself we wouldn't become a mushy couple._

_ But I like being mushy. :(_

_ Henry, you can be as mushy and cheesy as you want. But I can't get all mushy. We'll be too gross._

_ I'm not mushy, I'm...romantic._

_ Sure you are, Henry. Sure you are._


	10. Chapter 10

Natalie woke up, but she stayed in her bed. She had had another one of _those _dreams. Where bad things happened. She barely remembered it, but what she remembered, well, she didn't want to. Something about her brother, and pianos...? She didn't know. All she knew is that when she woke up, she was crying. She felt like she had been getting better ever since her mom left. Then things like this happened.

She rolled over on her side and saw the picture of her and Henry. She really believed that Henry was the reason for her getting better. She pushed him away, and he kept coming back. She missed him. Almost a week had gone by without seeing him. After the break up thing they sort of had after the clubbing, this had been the longest they had gone without being with each other. They pretty much spent all of their time together. Natalie wasn't quite sure if that was good or bad. She decided that it was good. She loved him, a lot. She realized she probably should tell him that more often.

A knock at the door. Rachel walked in. "Good morning, Natalie," she said. "I noticed that it's getting late in the morning, and you weren't up yet. I wanted to tell you that today Finn will be coming over. It's a Saturday tradition. We watch movies. You are free to join, if you so please. If you don't, well," she shrugged. "That's fine too."

Natalie slowly sat up. "No. No, I mean it's fine. Yeah, I'll join." Rachel smiled.

"Well, I'll let you get ready. Breakfast is downstairs. I'll be in the shower if you need me!" she bounced out of the room. Natalie sighed and began to get dressed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natalie was sitting at the piano when Finn arrived. Rachel practically flew over to the door to let him in. Natalie kept playing as she heard greetings and kisses.

"Finn, you remember Natalie, right? Natalie, this is my boyfriend, Finn!" Rachel beamed at him. Natalie didn't acknowledge him as her fingers flew over the keys.

"So, you play piano?" asked Finn. Natalie stopped to look up at Finn.

"No, I play the flute." she said, returning to the piano.

"Natalie!" came Dan's voice from the other room.

"So, Natalie, Finn and I are going to watch some movies now, feel free to join, or you can stay on the piano. We'll be in the other room." Rachel said to Natalie. Natalie didn't respond. Suddenly, she stood up.

"Sure," she said. They walked over to the couch. Finn and Rachel sat down on the couch. Natalie sat alone in a chair. Dan was in a chair, working on his laptop.

They started off with some old movie. It was in black and white. Natalie quickly learned that all Rachel really watched was musicals. Natalie was trying to not fall asleep. She texted Henry the whole time. Which she probably would've been doing even if there was no movie.

Finn and Rachel were cuddled on the couch. Occasionally, Finn would whisper something in Rachel's ear and she would smile. Rachel would stare lovingly at Finn. It was disgustingly sweet. Natalie thought that if it got any cuter, she would vomit. That's how grossly adorable they were. _This is why Henry can only be the romantic one,_ she thought. _If I was like that, we couldn't be seen in public._

The next movie had some person named Barbra Streisand in it, who Rachel apparently worshipped. Natalie didn't watch movies very often. She didn't have time for that. Natalie wondered if this was what normal teenage couples did. All she did with Henry was play piano and talk. Sometimes they would do it differently. Sometimes Henry was high. She preferred it that way. Simple. No mushy stuff for her. _Well, maybe once in a while. _

Natalie got the feeling that Finn didn't exactly love these movies. Still, it was sweet of him to put up with it. Finn didn't seem to have much in common with Rachel, but they made it work. Natalie had heard all about Finn. All Rachel seemed to talk about was him and Broadway.

The movie ended. Rachel jumped up from the couch. "Let's take a little break. Why don't you play us a song on the piano? Oh! I have a book! I can sing along!" she ran up the stairs. Natalie sat at the piano.

Rachel flipped open to a song. "Let's do this one! I sound fantastic-well, not that I ever don't sound fantastic." she smiled at Finn, who smiled back.

So Natalie played the song. She didn't recognize it. It was some show tune. Definitely not classical. She played, and Rachel sang, and her dad and Finn watched happily.

_Maybe this is what family feels like, _Natalie thought. And she felt a smile grow on her face.

**A/N: I'm so sorry! I meant to put this up yesterday, but then I ended up somehow watching Spiderman with my mom and little brother, and then today we all went to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, and I just had no time! I promise an extra long chapter tomorrow! I swear on Adam Chanler-Berat. Which is bery serious, considering how much I love him. Anyway, ten chapters! I'm surprised you stuck around this long. All jokes aside, thank you so much for reading this. And just being a part of this. You, as readers, make this happen. I love all of you. This author's note just became extremely awkward. Um. Bye.**


	11. Chapter 11

Natalie closed her eyes, trying to fall back asleep. For once, she had actually had a good dream. The details faded as she grew more and more awake. But the feeling of happiness lingered.

Yesterday had been a good day. No. It had been a _normal_ day. The thought of a normal day freaked Natalie out. Yes, they had been a family. Yeah, it was nice to experience a regular day for once. But she wouldn't want it, like, every day. That would be too weird.

Rachel seemed to have the life Natalie had always wanted. She was extremely talented. She had parents who adored her, even if they were always working. She had a boyfriend who loved her. She had a bunch of friends. Everything about her seemed perfect. She was confident. Maybe a bit too confident. From what Natalie had seen at the slumber party, Rachel was a bit of a solo hog. Which apparently was bad. She also was very ambitious, to a point where she would do anything to get what she wanted. Not always a good thing.

Natalie sat up in her bed. She already had a _Good morning :)_ text from Henry. Natalie realized that it had been one week already. Only one more until she went home. One week till she saw Henry again. Seven days. She would be able to spend the rest of the summer with him. He was too good to her. She didn't deserve a wonderful guy like him. He deserved some girl who would most likely not go crazy. But still he stayed. Either he was crazy, or he actually loved her. Natalie thought it was a bit of both.

Natalie began to brush her frizzy hair as she looked in the mirror. She never thought of herself as beautiful, exactly, but she wasn't horrible looking. She picked out her clothes for the day. A shirt and shorts. Not very exciting, but she wasn't a very exciting person. Today, the entire glee club was coming over to Rachel's house. They were going to have practice in her basement. _Because, you know, I do so well with glee members. Or people in general, really, _thought Natalie.

Natalie walked down the stairs to grab some breakfast. Rachel was currently talking to Dan and her dads.

"You can join in watching our practice, if you'd like," she was saying. The dads were all agreeing. Rachel was smiling. "This will be so much fun!" Natalie just hoped she was right.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few hours later, and the New Directions were all gathered in Rachel's basement. Their teacher, Mr. Schuester, had just arrived. He was talking to Natalie.

"So, you are...?" he began.

"Natalie. Rachel's cousin." she said flatly. "This is my dad, Dan," she said, pointing to Dan. He shook hands with Mr. Schuester.

"Pleasure," he said.

"So, Natalie, do you sing?" Mr. Schuester, or Mr. Schue, as the kids called him, asked. Natalie shook her head.

"I play piano," she explained. Mr. Schuester smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Great! You can play piano for us today," Natalie simply nodded and sat down at the bench.

Mr. Schuester took role call. "Has anybody seen Quinn?" he asked after noticing she was the only one not there. Nobody answered. "I guess that's a no. Alright, guys, I know it's summer and all, but we have to keep up with our singing if we want to win Nationals. Vocal Adrenaline has practices each day." Natalie didn't know who or what Vocal Adrenaline was, but by the way Mr. Schue said it, it wasn't good. "First, we need to warm up. Natalie, if you will," he gestured to Natalie to start playing scales.

The room filled with "Me-me-me-me-me-me-me-me" as Natalie began to play. The club sounded great, even while warming up. Natalie was a little mad that she had to play piano. She was hoping to just pretend to pay attention and text Henry. But, it was great practice. She had to keep up her playing to get into Yale. Just like the New Directions had to keep up so they would win their competions, or whatever it was the showchoirs did.

The whole rehearsal was the same. They sang. Natalie played piano. Puck and Sam played guitar. Finn played drums. Rachel, of course, was loudest. Her fathers sat smiling at her and clapping. Natalie's own father was giving her a look. A look of pride. And that was enough to keep Natalie going.

At the end of rehearsal, Mr. Schue gave them a few minutes to do whatever they wanted. Mostly, they all talked. Natalie stayed at the piano, and improvised a jazz song that Henry would be proud of. Finn played his drums. Puck and Sam played their guitars. They made up their own song. Natalie felt the feeling of family again. Of normalcy.

And it honestly freaked her out.

Natalie suddenly stopped. So did the others. Natalie felt their eyes on her. It was awkwardly quiet for a while. Then Rachel spoke up.

"Well, that was fun and all, but next time, we should work harder. The entire time. Maybe we should even start putting together a setlist for Sectionals, instead of last minute, as usual..." she probably would've continued, but Mr. Schue cut her off.

"Thank you, Rachel, but I'm in charge, and I'll decide what's best. Thank you for your input though." He glanced at the clock. "You guys are dismissed. Have fun! See you next week." The glee clubbers left, leaving Rachel and Natalie alone.

Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but Natalie stood up. "I have to call Henry," she said quickly, and she left just as quickly. Rachel stood alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"...and then I beat Zelda, too, and my keyboard stopped working, so I have to get it fixed, so I can't play piano, and now I have nothing to do," whined Henry. Natalie tried not to laugh. It didn't work.

"This is very serious!" insisted Henry. "Without you, I'm nothing. I never do anything without you, now I can't do anything with you! One more week...Nat?" Natalie had been silent for a while.

"Henry?" Natalie asked quietly.

"Yeah?" responded Henry.

Natalie sighed. "I love you, a lot."

Henry smiled. "I love you too. And I miss you even more. Wait, that didn't come out right. I love and miss you equally."

Natalie laughed. "That is a hell of a lot of missing, then." In the background, she heard someone yelling "_Henry!"_

Henry groaned. "What is it, mom? Yeah, I'm talking to Natalie. Because I love her, that's why! I'm sorry, Nat, I'll call you right back-" he hung up abruptly as she heard his mom's voice getting louder. Natalie smiled at her phone. It buzzed with a text from Henry.

_My mom is being crazy. Wait that didn't come out right either. Didn't mean to offend you. Sorry if I did. I'll call you asap. Love you._

Natalie smiled at Henry's rambling. Her phone began ringing again.

"Hey Nat, sorry about that, you know my mom, she thinks you're a bad person, but she's wrong, and she thinks you introduced me to pot, and basically that you are the reason for everything bad about me, and-"

"There's nothing bad about you. You're great. I _am_ a bad influence," said Natalie.

"We're both bad influences on each other. I guess that means we can't do anything wrong," said Henry.

"I guess so," Natalie grinned. "Henry, you're like a philospher or something."

"It's the pot," explained Henry. "It makes me sound intelligent."

"I'm sure it's not totally the pot," said Natalie. "You're sort of smart without it."

"Nice to know you care," said Henry jokingly. "I miss you," he said sadly. "Seven days."

"Seven days," agreed Natalie. "One more week of Ohio." She hadn't realized how fast the days had gone by. She was excited to go home. A small part of her would miss Rachel and her friends. But she shoved away that small part and continued to listen to Henry whine about how he had nothing to do.

"And then-Nat, are you listening?"

Natalie smiled. "Totally, Henry. Keep going." And they talked for hours.

She would never get tired of him. Ever.


	12. Chapter 12

Natalie sat up in bed. _Six days. _Six more days of Ohio, then back to home. She got out of bed and got dressed. She walked down the stairs and sat at the piano.

Rachel walked over and sat down next to her on the bench. "Why Yale?" she asked. Natalie looked at her.

"Well, it's in Connecticut, for one," she replied. Rachel kept staring at her.

"What's so special about Connecticut?" she asked.

"I don't know how good you are at geography, but Connecticut is on the opposite side of America from Washington," explained Natalie.

"And you're from Washington?" Natalie nodded. "So, basically you're trying to get as far away from home as possible."

Natalie nodded again. "Yeah, that's kind of the master plan. Not to mention that it's an Ivy League college."

"I'm trying to leave here, too. To get to New York, to follow my dreams. To be famous!" Rachel sounded like she had rehearsed this many times.

"You might have mentioned that, once or twice. Or every day," muttered Natalie. Rachel looked at her quizzically. "Nothing," said Natalie quickly. Natalie glanced at the clock. It was only 10:00 AM.

Rachel noticed her looking at the clock. "Why are you looking at the clock?" she asked.

"It's three hours ahead of Washington here. I have to wait for Henry to actually wake up before I can talk to him," Natalie sighed. "He's really lazy." Rachel nodded like she understood. Natalie knew she didn't. But she was good at pretending. Acting. Nobody really understood Natalie.

But that was just the fun of being abnormal.

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A few hours later and Natalie was talking to Henry.

"I'm really hungry," he was whining.

"Well Henry, you have two choices here. A, get some food, or B, stop smoking so much pot!" Of course, right then Rachel walked in. It was awkwardly quiet for a bit.

"...Nat?" asked Henry.

"Just a second, Henry," she pulled the phone away from her ear. "What?" she hissed.

"It's time for dinner," Rachel said.

"I have to go now, Henry. I'll call you after dinner. Love you," Natalie said.

"Love you," replied Henry.

"Goodbye, Henry," Natalie hung up. "What's for dinner?" she asked Rachel.

"Spaghetti," Rachel replied.

They all sat around the table. All meaning Rachel, Natalie, and Dan, seeing as Rachel's dads were at work. They were at work most of the day.

Rachel was talking about something, Dan was listening, Natalie wasn't paying attention. This how how dinners usually went.

Dinner finished. "Natalie, can I talk to you for a bit?" Rachel asked. They headed up to her room.

"What?" Natalie asked bluntly. "I promised Henry I'd call him back."

"That's what this is about. Look, I like you, Natalie. You might not care. But you're my family. And I don't think your relationship with Henry is very healthy-"

"Henry made me better. So what if he smokes pot? So what if I spend all my free time with him? He's a great person. I don't know, maybe I'm a little biased because I love him. Henry is the one person in my terrible life who genuinely likes me for who I am and would never hurt me. He's the one guy who met my parents and didn't leave as quickly as possible. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make a phone call." she stormed out.

Natalie flopped on the bed. She pulled out her phone. She meant to click Henry's name. She was going to. But she didn't.

She clicked _Mom._

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Natalie listened intently to what her mom was saying. Her mom had lots of good advice. It just had been repressed by the crazy through all the years.

"I think maybe, when you get back, you should come over and visit," her mom was saying.

Natalie smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you. Goodbye,"

"Goodbye, Natalie," Diana said.

Natalie sat and reflected on their conversation. Somedays, she felt like she was turning into her mother.

_Who says that's always a bad thing?_

**A/N: Hey! Happy New Year, almost! Um. I made a Tumblr! Check it out! The URL is therewillbelight. So yeah! Oh, I almost forgot, does anyone know where I can find Jenn's last Hey #3/Perfect For You(Reprise)? It got removed from YouTube. Also, an odd observation: the Next to Normal soundtracks has great violins. Really, listen to I've Been and I forget the others but it's nice. Bye!**


	13. Chapter 13

Henry groaned as he heard his mom's footsteps coming towards his room.

"Henry! Are you talking to that girl again?" she threw the door open.

"Her name is Natalie, and yes, I talk to her everyday," said Henry. His mom grabbed the phone and pressed the end call button. She sighed and sat down on the foot of his bed.

"Sweetheart, I love you. I don't think this Natalie girl is good for you. Her mother is mentally unstable-"

"Was mentally unstable. She's getting better now. Can you leave now? You've given me this speech before," Henry said, trying to hide his anger.

"You've been hopelessly in love with this girl for years. Why is now any different?" Henry was getting really mad now.

"It's not hopeless! She loves me back, just as much as I love her," he said.

His mom sighed again. "I want you to be happy-"

"Then go away and let me talk to my girlfriend in peace!"

"I'm worried about you, Henry. I never see you. You're always at Natalie's. When you're here, you lock yourselves in here doing God knows what-"

"Nat's not like that, mom," she rolled her eyes at the nickname. "We're in here playing piano and talking. That's it."

"Another thing!" she said. "You spend your free time playing piano. Why couldn't you do something worthwhile, like sports, or join an afterschool club, or find a job. They look great on college applications."

"I don't know what I want to do yet. I just want to spend it with Natalie," explained Henry.

"Honey, I know you can do better than Natalie. Why don't you ever go out with any other girls? What about that nice girl, what's her name, Sabrina?"

"She shoved Natalie into a locker once," replied Henry.

"What about Susan from down the street? Or Mabel? Or Destiny? All wonderful girls," his mother tried.

"Susan made fun of Nat's mom once, Mabel told her piano was for losers, and Destiny just straight up ignores us," Henry said flatly.

His mom grew angry. "Fine. Don't listen to me. You'll regret it!" She walked out in a huff and slammed the door behind her.

"Doubt it," muttered Henry. He dialed Natalie's number.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she answered.

"Sorry about that. My mom..." he sighed.

"It's fine," said Natalie comfortingly. "I've dealt with worse."

Henry brightened up a bit. "Yeah, you have, haven't you."

Natalie giggled. "Thanks. It's really sunny here," she said conversationally.

Henry glanced out his window at the rainy sky. "Well, isn't everything just perfect in Ohio."

"Only if you were here," said Natalie.

"Hey, I tried!" Henry protested. "My mom is watching me like a hawk. I wouldn't be surprised if she was, like, listening in on this conversation somehow."

Natalie smiled sadly. "Which is better? A mom who cares too much or a mom or doesn't remember you?"

"Don't be so down. Only a few more days, and I promise we'll spend every day together."

"Promise?" asked Natalie quietly.

"Promise," said Henry. "And you know I keep my word. Forever."

"All too well, Henry," said Natalie. "All too well."

**A/N: Whatttt? Two chapters in one day? Yeah I felt like writing more. So this is just a cute little chapter explaining what Henry's doing. TL;DR not much. Um yeah. Oh! I made a mistake. My Tumblr URL is actually **_**Whenourlongnightisdone. **_**I'm just really stupid. See you tomorrow! Happy New Year!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Go easy on Nat. She's been through a lot, and Henry was helped her," Natalie heard her dad saying as she stood outside the kitchen. He had been talking to Rachel, probably about her little outburst. Natalie breezed into the kitchen.

"I talked to mom yesterday," she said bluntly, ignoring Rachel.

"You-you did?" asked Dan, not hiding his shock.

"Yeah, I was thinking maybe when we got back I would go visit her."

"That would be nice," mused Dan. "You haven't seen your grandparents in a while."

Natalie nodded. "Gee, I wonder why," she said sarcastically.

Dan sighed. "Nat, everything's better now. We're getting better."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Right. That's why you have an appointment scheduled with Dr. Madden when we get back," She grabbed a granola bar and left.

She flopped onto the bed. "Five days," she whispered.

The door opened. It was Rachel. "I'm going to the mall today, if you want to come."

"No," said Natalie. "But my dad will make me go anyway. So sure, I guess."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natalie was actually having a good time. She was at the mall with Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine. They were trying on clothes and just having fun. Natalie never had friends before. It was a strange experience, but not entirely unwelcome.

Natalie and Rachel were sitting inside a photo booth, taking pictures. They got two copies, one for Rachel, one for Natalie. It was great. Natalie hadn't even thought about her mother in hours.

Natalie wasn't a mall person. Then again, she wasn't a person with friends either. _But now look at me._ She was at a mall, with people she guessed could be considered friends. Any friends she had ever had before had been told to not hang around with her. But at least Blaine didn't know about her crazy mother. She hoped. She had learned that this glee club couldn't be trusted.

They sat in the food court. Blaine and Kurt were eating some sort of burgers. Natalie and Rachel each had a salad, and they shared french fries.

"How can you eat that?" Rachel complained. "A poor cow was murdered for this! It never did anything wrong, and it was tortured!"

Kurt took a bite. "Well, let me tell you, torture tastes _delicous."_ He laughed. Blaine laughed. Natalie stared awkwardly at her salad.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Henry was calling. She held her phone up to her ear.

"Hey," came Henry's voice.

"Hey," Natalie smiled.

"I got my piano back!" he said excitedly. She heard the sound of keys being pushed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm at the mall, with Rachel and her friends," she said, glancing around the table.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my girlfriend," joked Henry. "But really? The mall?"

"Yes Henry. Hard to believe. At least I don't spend my day sitting in my room, smoking pot and playing piano," she said sarcastically.

"Hey! Sometimes I play video games," Henry protested. "Nat, put the phone on speaker. I want to play a song for your friends!"

Natalie set the phone down and pressed the speaker button. "Henry wants to play a song for you guys," she explained.

"I'm Henry," said Henry. "I'm Nat's boyfriend." Rachel mouthed, _Nat? _Natalie just smiled. "I'm going to play a song now." He began to play a jazzy song, clearly improvised. It was fun and upbeat. _Just like Henry._

When it was finished, they quietly applauded. Natalie turned off the speaker and brought the phone back up to her ear.

"Did they like it?" asked Henry.

"I'm sure they did," said Natalie.

"Well go back to your friends now. I'll call you back later. Love you bye!" he said quickly. He hung up.

Natalie put away her phone. "Henry is so high right now," she said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natalie twisted and turned in her sleep. _The dreams._ They were back.

_She kept looking behind her. Someone was there. She felt it. But when she turned to look, there was nothing._

_ She could hear him breathing. His taunting laugh._

_ "Leave me alone!" she sobbed. But he wouldn't._

_ "You know who I am," he said._

_ She tried to run, but there was nowhere to run to. She was trapped._

_ He was in front of her. A smile on his face. His bright blue eyes sparkled. She tried to back away, but hit the wall._

_ He smirked. "Hello, sis."_

_ Her eyes widened. "I don't know you. Go away," she whispered._

_ He laughed. "Oh, yes you do. Say my name. Say it!"_

_ "No-I-they never said your name, we weren't allowed to talk about you-"_

_ His voice was lower, deceptively calm. "Say it."_

_ Natalie froze. Suddenly it came to her._

_ "Gabriel."_

**A/N: Sorry this is short, I had no clue what to write about! Please give me ideas, any ideas! I need them! This story has only a few chapters left, but don't fret! I have more stories from this universe planned, so stay tuned. :)**


	15. Chapter 15

_"Gabriel," Natalie said._

He smiled. "Hello, Nat,"

"Don't call me Nat," she snapped. "Only dad and Henry call me Nat."

Gabe raised his eyebrows. "Well someone's a little touchy."

"Why are you here?" she asked.

Gabe smiled again. "What, a guy can't talk to his baby sister?"

Natalie nervously looked away. "You're dead. You don't exist," she didn't seem to be directing it towards him. She was trying to reassure herself.

Gabe laughed. "I am dead. But why should that mean I don't exist?" His smile faded a little. "I didn't mean to scare you _that _much. It's what older brothers do, I guess."

Natalie looked at him, fear in her eyes. His bright blue eyes stared right back. They drew her in, keeping her gaze on him.

"You know, I've been watching you," he said conversationally. "Crap. I didn't mean for that to sound as creepy as it does." He ran a hand through his sandy hair. "I'm just keeping an eye out for my little sister, you know? But it's not like I can do that, what with me being dead and all."

"Why are you here?" Natalie repeated, forcefully this time.

Gabe sighed. "Well, Sunshine, take a seat," A couch was there suddenly. They both sat down. "Like I said, I'm trying to keep an eye out for you. Let's face it-you need a watchful eye," Natalie blushed, remembering the clubbing.

"But I have someone to watch over me. Henry," explained Natalie.

"Ah, yes, Henry," growled Gabe. "The boyfriend. Nice guy, but if he hurts you..." he trailed off.

"You can't do anything. You're dead," said Natalie.

Gabe smirked. "You don't know what I can do."

Natalie didn't push the matter. She changed the subject. "But really, Gabe," the name sounded weird coming from her. "what was the point of this-is this a dream? Have I finally gone crazy?" she began to panic.

Gabe gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. You aren't crazy. This is a dream, but I really am your older brother. The Superboy."

"And the invisible girl," Natalie murmured. "What is this about? Is it about Rachel? Did I do something?"

Gabe shrugged. "Not really. I just felt like we should talk, considering we never have before."

"Wait, so you terrified me, just so we could talk? You really are my older brother," Natalie said.

"Do you ever wonder what life would be like...if I never died?" asked Gabe quietly.

Natalie shook her head. "I try not to," she said tightly.

"Why?" Gabe asked simply.

"Because if you were alive, I would never had existed," she whispered.

"That's not necessarily true-" Gabe protested but Natalie cut him off.

"Yes! Yes it is! You were the light of Mom's life, her perfect little angel! And me-I'm just a lousy, failure of a replacement child," she began to cry.

Gabe wrapped his arms around her. "You are a great person. You get amazing grades, you were an awesome swimmer, and you are the best pianist I've ever heard."

Natalie wiped her eyes. "Really?" Gabe nodded in response.

Gabe's eyes widened suddenly. "Crap," he muttered, standing up. Natalie looked up at him, confused.

"I think I've overstayed my welcome. They're all coming into your room now. I better go."

"Are you ever coming back?" asked Natalie.

Gabe shrugged. "Maybe." He smiled. "Be nice to Rachel. She really cares about you," his voice faded. He was gone.

"Natalie? Natalie? Natalie!" her name was repeated over and over.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Natalie was awake. Rachel was standing over her, looking concerned. "Natalie!" she said relieved. "I heard you scream again, so I just came to make sure you were okay. You were tossing and turning, and you looked really upset. I was just so worried-Natalie? Are you okay?" Natalie wasn't responding.

Slowly, Natalie sat up. What had just happened? Dan walked into the room. "Nat? I heard voices. Is everything alright?"

"Gabe, Dad," whispered Natalie. "I saw Gabe."

Dan rushed to her side. "What?"

"Gabe. He talked to me. It's fine, Dad, I'm okay," explained Natalie.

"Are you sure you're fine?" Dan said warily.

"He didn't hurt me or anything. He just wanted to talk."

"Alright," said Dan, still not convinced. "Go back to sleep. It's almost two o'clock in the morning," With that, both Rachel and Dan left.

But Natalie couldn't sleep. Not after what happened. She turned her phone on to call Henry.

A few rings. Natalie was worried that he wouldn't answer.

"Hey," came Henry's voice.

"Hey," said Natalie in reply.

"Is something wrong, Nat? It's gotta be, like, what, two there? Are you hurt? Did something happen? You know I don't care what my mom says, I can be on a flight as soon as possible-"

"Henry, it's fine. I just had a dream...about my brother."

"What? Are you feeling okay? I'm not even kidding, I will be there in a few hours!"

"You don't need to. I just want someone to talk to," Natalie whispered. So that's what they did for a long time.

Natalie began to doze off. "I have to go sleep now. Goodbye, Henry," she murmured. She hung up and fell into a dreamless slumber.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The next day was awkward, to say the least. Rachel had somewhere to go, leaving Natalie at her house. Apparently it was important, and Natalie couldn't come. Not that Natalie minded. She spent the whole day on the phone with Henry.

_Thank God for unlimited minutes, _she thought as she listened to Henry talk. They were having their usual argument of classical vs. jazz.

"Jazz is so spontaneous and fun!" argued Henry. "It's never the same!"

"Classical is challenging, but when you get it right, it's worth it," responded Natalie. "You just have to keep trying."

"Jazz and classical are kind of like us," remarked Henry.

A smile formed on Natalie's face. "Yeah, Henry. Exactly like us."

**A/N: Hi! You have no idea how excited I am. I found a synopsis of Feeling Electric! Feeling Electric, if you didn't know, was what Next to Normal originally was! It's way different, but so cool! I have the link if you want it. :) I just want to hear the songs so badly, but all download links are outdated! :( See you later!**


	16. Chapter 16

Natalie sighed as she got dressed. Finn was coming over again today. Rachel also invited Kurt, so Natalie "wouldn't be a third wheel". Natalie really didn't care. Rachel was trying to get in some quality time before Natalie went home in a few days.

Natalie heard the doorbell ring and walked down the stairs. She felt something poking her leg. She reached into her pocket. Inside was a tiny piece of paper. She unfolded it carefully.

_I love you Nat. -Henry_

His name was, of course, signed with a heart. She smiled and re-pocketed the note. She would save that love for later.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So," said Kurt, slightly awkwardly. He was sitting with Natalie. Rachel and Finn were in up in her room, doing who knows what.

"So," Natalie repeated flatly.

"What do you like to do?" asked Kurt hopefully.

"I play piano," said Natalie.

"Really? I do to, a little!" Kurt said excitedly.

"Classical or jazz?" asked Natalie.

"Mmm, I play more jazz and showtunes-y stuff, not that classical's bad or anything," Kurt said.

"Show me," Natalie said simply.

Kurt and Natalie walked over to the piano. He put his fingers on the keys and began to play a jazz song. Natalie began to smile uncontrollably. It reminded her so much of Henry.

Kurt paused to look up at Natalie. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, it's just...you're a lot like my boyfriend. He's more of a jazz guy," explained Natalie.

"Right, the stoner boyfriend," said Kurt. "Is he cute?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Natalie pulled out her phone and showed a picture she had of Henry. Kurt whistled. "He is cute," he said.

"And taken," Natalie said, pocketing her phone.

Kurt smiled. "Of course, I have a boyfriend too," he stood up. "Your turn."

Natalie took the seat and began to play a classical song. "You're good," Kurt said, sounding impressed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure they don't let people who suck into Yale," Natalie said dryly.

"Yale!" said Kurt. "You must get pretty good grades."

"The best," agreed Natalie.

"You know, some people might say you have a perfect life. Great grades, talented, a loving and adorable boyfriend, good friends," Kurt said.

"Friends?" repeated Natalie.

"You have me, and Rachel, and Mercedes, and Blaine likes you. Pretty perfect too me."  
>"I'm pretty sure most perfect people don't have a dead brother or a crazy mom," said Natalie.<p>

Kurt smiled. "I don't know why you say you don't have any friends. You seem nice to me."

Natalie stopped playing. "Well, let's see. Has your mom ever been in the headline of the newspaper for freaking out at Costco?"

"My mom is dead," Kurt said quietly.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't know," apologized Natalie.

"It's fine," Kurt sighed. "Rachel told me you had a rough year. I did too. My dad almost died, I got bullied so badly I had to transfer schools."

Natalie nodded. "My mom tried to kill herself. I did drugs and almost killed myself, too."

"But I found a wonderful boyfriend, Blaine, who helped me get through alive," Kurt smiled wistfully.

"Me too," said Natalie, thinking of Henry and how much he really cared. Following her to clubs, watching her grind with random guys? She was pretty sure that was true love. Not that she'd ever admit it.

"You know, Natalie, I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship," Kurt said.

_Friendship?_ Natalie seemed to just be getting more and more friends here. "I feel so popular," Natalie said sarcastically, but a tiny grin was forming.

They both put their hands on the piano and began to play a duet. Yes, everything was going well for Natalie.

**A/N: This meant to go up yesterday, but I went back to school. Which may be better for you, because I want to write more when I'm at school. I like how I say 'you', like only one person is reading this. That's probably true, actually. Shout out to Tipsu, who's been the only person to review this story! Yay! How did you like the Feeling Electric stuff? Tweak really confuses me, haha. :) See you later!**


	17. Chapter 17

_Two more days. _The thought resonated in Natalie's mind. The time flew past. Not always in a good way, but not in a bad way, either. Two days left. Twelve days spent in Ohio. The first twelve days since the drug/clubbing thing that she hadn't spent with Henry. That she hadn't played piano with him. That he hadn't greeted her at her locker like he did every day at school. That they hadn't just sat there, simply enjoying each others company.

She hadn't gotten a hug from Henry in twelve days, she realized. Natalie wasn't a very huggy type of person, but there's only so long that she could go without Henry. Did that make her clingy? She decided to ask Henry.

_Henry, do you think I'm clingy?_

Henry's reply came quickly, as usual. _If you're clingy, Nat, then I must be a stalker. ;)_

Natalie actually laughed out loud. Her fingers flew over the keys as she walked downstairs, where Rachel was waiting for her. They were going out for coffee or something. Natalie didn't drink coffee, she drank Red Bull, which she liked much better. But whatever, she felt like she had to go. She wanted to be nice to Rachel. Besides, Kurt was going to be there.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The coffee shop was incredibly awkward. The Lima Bean, it was called. Natalie thought that that was way cheesy. Finn had showed up, along with Kurt and Blaine. So they sat down with their lattes or whatever it was that they were drinking.

"Wait, where's Mercedes? I did invite her, right?" asked Rachel anxiously.

"She texted me, saying that she couldn't come. She was busy or something," said Kurt, sipping his latte.

Natalie raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything. Obviously, this Mercedes was keeping a secret. She took a sip from the can of Red Bull she was holding. It reminded her of late nights up studying. _Precious memories._

As the others talked, Natalie pulled out her phone and texted Henry. She could tell Kurt and Rachel were both trying to include her in the conversation, but it didn't help that what they were talking about was musicals.

"What kind of movies do you like, Natalie?" Rachel was asking. Natalie's head snapped up.

"I don't watch movies very much. I'm too busy, with the homework and the piano," she explained.

"You never go to the movies?" Blaine asked, shocked.

"Well, the one time we tried to go, my mom freaked out. She tried to get another ticket for my brother," she looked up at Finn and Blaine's confused faces. _Right._ They didn't know. "He's dead, in case you couldn't tell by the blatantly obvious fact that he isn't here with us."

"I'm sorry," said Blaine.

"Why be sorry? It's not like I even knew him. He died before I was born."

"So," Kurt changed the subject slightly. "Henry doesn't take you to the movies? For, like, dates or anything?"

"I think this past year, Henry was busy making sure I didn't die from the drugs or trying to get me to actually, I don't know, love him or something," Natalie casually sipped her Red Bull, ignoring the strange looks she new she was getting. She concentrated on what Henry was texting. Whatever it was that he was texting, Natalie was sure that it was cuter and a hell of a lot more interesting than this conversation.

_I'm just saying that jazz is way more interesting and fun than classical is. _Henry was saying.

_So, essentially, you're saying that I'm boring and you're much more exciting?_

_ That is not what I'm saying at all. Also I forgot to put a face in that last text. So here is 2 :) :)_

_ I'm in love with a dork._

_ Hey, as long as you love me, I'm cool with being a dork. BD_

_ ...was that supposed to be a nerd face?_

_ Yes. :D_

_ ...I honestly have nothing to say to you._

_ I think "I love you" is a good place to start. ;D_

_ But maybe I don't want to say that._

_ What? D:_

_ Kidding. I love you. :)_

_ I'm slowly converting you to the smiley face side! This is all part of my master plan. It's called "Get Nat to be Happy" :)_

_ That name sucks._

_ Well I'm working on it, ok? Don't judge me :(_

_ How long has this plan been in action for?_

_ Since I awkwardly entered the practice room. ;)_

_ Of course._

"Let's go to the movies now!" Kurt said. Apparently everyone had finished. So they got up and left. They drove to the theater to see some romantic comedy. It was cheesy and boring, at least to Natalie. And she was pretty sure that Finn and Rachel were making out during one part. But Natalie smiled and acted like she enjoyed it. She was pretty good at that, which was sort of depressing, now that she thought about it.

Rachel drove Natalie back to her house afterwards, and everything was all sunshine and rainbows.

But in Natalie's experience, nothing good ever stays that way.

**A/N: Sorry this is late! It's just, we're running out of chapters, and I have less ideas to write about. That last sentence sounds ominous, no? Does it mean anything? Probably not! I just suck at conclusions! I have a lot to talk about. Did you hear about the Twilight Musical thing? Everyone's freaking over Lauren Lopez, and I'm freaking over Meghann Fahy. Meghann is one million times as awesome. Just saying. And Adam is leaving Rent! But I'm not a huge Rent person. Hopefully he's leaving for Peter and the Starcatchers! I'm a nerd XD Um anyway, soon this will be over. But I just got, like, a ton of great new ideas for both Next to Normal fics and Glee fics! Who knows...maybe I'll venture into other fandoms! Bye!**


	18. Chapter 18

One more day. One last day in Ohio. Tomorrow, Natalie would be on a flight to Seattle. She was excited to be going home, but there was still that tiny part of her that thought she might miss Rachel. But she hid it.

Despite Natalie's protests-and she _did_ protest-Rachel was throwing Natalie a party. A sort of goodbye party. The whole glee club was coming. Because every other party they had, it had gone over so well with Natalie.

Natalie had sort of clung to Rachel's side until Finn and Kurt walked in. Rachel made her way over to Finn, while Natalie stood there. She didn't look up from her phone.

"Natalie!" A voice made her jump. She quickly turned around. It was just Kurt. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he apologized.

"It's just the drugs," Natalie deadpanned. Kurt gave her a strange look. "That's a joke. It's actually the Red Bull, it makes me all jittery," she took a sip from the can she was holding.

"Well, you look like you're having a good time," Kurt said sarcastically.

"I'm not much of a party person, believe it or not," replied Natalie.

"Why not?" asked Kurt.

"I don't really have friends that invite me. Besides, Henry doesn't like it when I go to places where there is even the slightest chance of me getting drunk and/or high," she casually sipped the Red Bull like this was obvious.

"No friends? What about Henry? Doesn't he have any friends?"

"Henry is a loner by choice. I myself am a loner by my mother being crazy. Strangely enough, people tend to not want to be friends with the girl who's mom jumped into the swimming pool at the meet," Natalie rolled her eyes.

Kurt didn't say anything. Natalie glanced around the room. "Hey, where's Blaine? Rachel invited him."

"Blaine's dad wouldn't let him come. He's mad at him or something. His dad told him he couldn't hang out with me for a few days," Kurt said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Natalie said.

Kurt sighed. "Yeah, his dad never really accepted the fact that he was gay. Is gay. He's still gay now."

Natalie's phone buzzed. "Who ya texting?" asked Kurt.

Natalie gave him a look. "Who other than Henry would I text?"

"Well, tell him I say hi!"

_Kurt says hi, Henry._

_ Who's Kurt? :P_

_ Just a friend of mine._

_ Natalie? Friend? ;)_

_ Haha, very funny._

_ Send me a pic of you guys! I miss your face! :(_

"Henry wants a pic of us," explaine Natalie. She held the phone in front of them and they both smiled. With a few presses of buttons, the picture was sent to Henry.

Before he had a chance to respond, Rachel rushed over. "Natalie, everyone is here now. It's time!" Natalie nodded.

"Time for what?" Kurt asked.

"Just a little performance," explained Natalie. "Here, can you film this? I _have _to show Henry."

Natalie handed Kurt her phone and ran to the small stage that was in the Berry's basement. Rachel was trying to get everyone's attention.

"Hello, fellow glee clubbers! As you know, Natalie is leaving tomorrow to head back to Washington. So, we set up a little performance! Enjoy!"

Natalie began to play. Rachel began to sing. The song was "Goodbye Until Tomorrow", which was a song from some musical. It was called, _The Last Five Years_ or something like that. Anyway, it was the first "Goodbye" song Rachel could think of that would suit her range. But it definately was not classical, so Natalie was hoping Henry would be impressed. Why did she need to impress him, she wasn't really sure. It was silly to want to impress him, because she knew he would love her anyway. She just wanted him to be proud of her.

The song ended and everybody clapped. Rachel beamed at her audience. But it wasn't over yet. Natalie started up a new song. This one was "You'll Never Walk Alone" from, _Carousel_, she thought, but she wasn't quite sure. Natalie was pretty sure, however, that this one was directed towards her.

After they had finished, Natalie took her phone back from Kurt. She sent the video to Henry, with the message_ I can play more than just classical_ attached.

The reply text came soon. _Does this settle the arguement? Have you agreed the jazz is, in fact, better? :D_

_ Hell no. Classical is still better._

_ D: _

_ Sadface all you want, it won't change anything._

The party went on. Not much happened. Natalie chatted to a few glee clubbers. She texted Henry. It wasn't all that bad. At least, not as bad as Natalie expected it to be. She was talking to Rachel.

"Everything is going smoothly, just like I planned!" Rachel was saying.

Natalie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I haven't even freaked or anything," she said dryly, opening a new can of Red Bull.

Rachel walked away towards some other people. Her phone starting ringing.

"Hey," said Henry.

"Hey," Natalie said with a smile.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Oh, you know. Just partying it up here," she joked.

Natalie walked over to the empty couch and sat down.

"I miss you so much," whined Henry. "Do you realize that it's been thirteen days that I've had to go without kissing you?"

"Hey, it's been the same for me," said Natalie. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll give you thirteen extra kisses when I see you tomorrow."

"Really?" Henry asked excitedly.

"Really," confirmed Natalie.

"But that's thirteen plus the hopefully large amount of kisses you were already planning on giving, right?"

"Sure, Henry. Whatever the hell you want," Natalie said.

"Don't forget all the hugs and cuddles," reminded Henry.

"Of course, Henry," Natalie agreed. "How could I forget the hugs and cuddles."

"Nat, you are so perfect," sighed Henry.

"I try," smiled Natalie.

"Seriously, Nat. Have I mentioned yet how much I love you?"

"Not in this conversation."

"Well, it's a lot," Henry said. "Emphasis on the lot."

"Really?" Natalie asked sarcastically. "I had no clue."

Just then, Kurt walked over. "Talking to Henry?" Natalie nodded. "Tell him I say hi!...again."

"Kurt says hi, again," Natalie said to Henry.

"Um, hi, Kurt," Henry said awkwardly.

"Henry says hi," Natalie said to Kurt. Kurt smiled.

"I got your picture," said Henry.

"And?" Natalie asked.

"You look beautiful. But you're always beautiful," Henry said. Natalie laughed. "What?" Henry asked, confused. "It's a good thing to be beautiful!"

"I know," Natalie said, stopping laughing. "It's just you must really be lonely if you're flirting with me on the phone."

"Well," started Henry. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, Henry. Your phone seduction worked perfectly."

"Good," Henry said suggestively. "Now the real talking can begin." He started laughing, making Natalie laugh, too.

"You know, by this time tomorrow, you'll be here," remarked Henry.

"Yeah? What will we be doing, then?"

"I don't care, as long as you're with me," Henry said sweetly.

"You're way too cheesy. But I love you anyway," Natalie said.

"I love you too," said Henry. They both sat quietly for a moment.

"I should really go back to my party now," Natalie said reluctantly.

"Do you really have to?" Henry asked sadly.

"No," murmured Natalie. So that's where Natalie stayed for most of the party, sitting on the couch talking to Henry.

It was the best party she ever went to.

**A/N: The next chapter is the last! Ah! Where did it all go? If you can't tell, I love Henry. He's so cute and so much fun to write! I realized something the other day when I was journaling in Literacy class. My writing is so angry! I've tried to make these past few chapters less angry. I guess it's because I have a lot of repressed rage. Like, a lot. I don't ever get angry in front of people. I just bottle it up. Not very healthy, but hey, it works when I write Natalie! Ok, so see you for the last chapter! (commence sobbing)**

**PS: I went to upload this, and I checked my story stats, and holy crap yesterday I got 60 hits on this story! Most I ever got! Thank you!**


	19. Chapter 19

Natalie Goodman had the jitters. The kind of jitters she usually associated with drinking too many cans of Red Bull. The kind of jitters she would get before she had a piano recital. But she hadn't drank any Red Bull yet today, and she wasn't going to a piano recital.

She walked down the stairs and into the kitchen like she normally did. But it was different today. There was a strange sadness in the air. Rachel sat quietly, staring blankly into her teacup. Her eyes were empty.

Her dad sat reading the paper. Natalie knew that he wasn't actually reading it. Why would he care about Ohio news?

"Good morning," Natalie said, trying to be cheerful. She found it ironic that she was the one trying to cheer everyone up.

Rachel smiled sadly up at Natalie. "Hello, Natalie. I see you're all ready to go," she looked at Natalie's suitcase. "Can I talk to you in the other room for a minute?"

Natalie followed Rachel to the other room. "Natalie, you're...you're like the sister I never had. You're a great person. I'm really glad we could meet and become friends. I'm...I'm going to miss you," she finished quietly.

Natalie smiled. "Maybe this trip is over, but who says this is goodbye? Only now, you have to come to Washington."

Rachel smiled back. "It's a deal. I'm going to hug you now," Rachel wrapped her arms around Natalie. It was strangely comforting. Natalie wrapped her arms around Rachel and they stood there hugging.

"Nat, we need to get going soon," Dan called, snapping Natalie out of her reverie. She removed her arms and grabbed her suitcase. They went out into Rachel's car. Her dads were at work.

They drove to the airport. It was a bittersweet goodbye. They were gone.

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The moment Natalie entered the airport in Washington, she began to look for him. She looked all over but she couldn't find him. Suddenly, she spotted him.

"Henry," she breathed. Then, in a very un-Natalie-like move, she ran over to him and practically flung her arms around him.

It felt great to be with him again. She had missed him a lot. The parts of him she hadn't even realized she missed. His backwards baseball hat. His soft shirt. The strange but comforting smell of pot and cologne.

"Hey," he said, smiling.

"Hey," she whispered.

"I missed you so much," Henry said.

Natalie nodded, burying her face in his shirt. "Never leave me again," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"Um, you're the one who left _me_," Henry laughed. Natalie just squeezed him tighter.

"Shut up," she murmured. She pulled her head away slightly to look up at Henry's face. He was grinning at her. She smiled right back at him.

He enthusiastically kissed her. It was the best kiss Natalie had ever had so far in her life. Henry gently moved his hands up and down Natalie's back, making her shiver and lean into the kiss even more.

They probably could have stood there forever, but they were snapped out by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They awkwardly pulled away and turned around. It was Dan, holding the suitcase that Natalie had dropped.

"Oh, um, hi, Mr. Goodman," Henry said.

"Hello, Henry. I see you're in a good mood today," Dan said.

Henry blushed a little. "Uh..."

"Let's go to your car now, Henry," Natalie said, trying to ease the tension.

"Right, my car," muttered Henry. "I'll take this," he grabbed Natalie's suitcase with his left hand and took Natalie's hand with his right. They left the airport and headed out to the parking lot.

"So," Henry said, swinging the hand the was holding Natalie's. "Did you get me a present?"

"Yeah, but we have to wait until we get home for me to show you," Natalie teased.

A smile grew on Henry's face. "I'm liking what this trip did to you."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "Don't be a perv, Henry. I just meant that the gifts are in my suitcase."

"That's what I meant," Henry protested but it didn't matter.

"Well," Natalie said slowly. "There is one gift I can give now," She glanced behind them to make sure her dad wasn't looking. He was checking his phone. Natalie quickly turned to Henry and kissed him. It was a short little kiss.

"That's nice, but that doesn't count as one of the thirteen," Henry said.

Natalie smiled and shook her head. "You're too hard to please."

They reached Henry's car. Natalie sat in the front while Henry put the suitcases in the back. Natalie noticed something odd about the car.

As Henry got into the front seat, Natalie hissed, "Unroll your windows."

"What?" Henry asked, confused.

"I said unroll your windows. I don't want my dad getting high off of your car."

"Oh. Uh. Right," Henry quickly unrolled the windows.

They drove to the Goodman's house. Natalie sat on her bed with Henry and handed him the souvenirs she bought him. A piano wristband and a piano tie. Henry loved them.

He slid the wristband onto his arm with all his other wristbands. "I love it!" he said excitedly. "You know, I got you a present, too,"

"Did you?" asked Natalie.

Henry nodded. "Yeah. It's this," He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. They kissed for a long time, until they had to break away for air.

"I like that present," Natalie admitted, slightly breathless.

"Good, because you owe me at least twelve more of those!" Henry smiled, cheeks flushed.

"Oh, darn, at least twelve," Natalie joked. She leaned in again for another kiss.

"I love you," Henry said.

"I love you too," Natalie replied, as Henry put his arms around her and hugged her. They lay there cuddling for a long time.

"Henry?" Natalie said quietly.

"Yeah?" Henry answered.

"Next time I go on a long trip, you're coming with me," she said.

Henry grinned. "Sounds good to me."

Natalie curled up into Henry's side. "Good, because those fourteen days were torture."

"We texted, like, every five seconds. I called you every night!"

"Maybe, but it's not the same as actually being here with you," Natalie said.

"Yeah," Henry said. He kissed her again. "Now it's at least eleven more."

"That doesn't bother me," Natalie said smiling.

Natalie felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Maybe she was. Laying in bed with Henry. What more could she need?

**A/N: It ended! It's over! But like Nat said up there, "This trip is over, but who says this is goodbye?" There will definitely be more from this little AU I have created, plus I have tons of new ideas for oneshots and multi-chaps! But really, a major thank you to Tipsu. The only person to review. Really, the Henry to my Natalie. If you hadn't reviewed, I probably would have abandoned this a long time ago. Like every other fanfiction I've ever posted. This is the first I've actually finished. Sad it's over, but when God closes a door, he opens a window! :) Really, though, thank you all for sticking with me! I would make a heartfelt speech, but I don't know how too. The title of this story comes from "A Summer in Ohio" from The Last Five Years. This wasn't too bad of a summer, though, huh? I guess I don't completely suck! I like writing, it helps me escape from the real world. I'm just another lonely little girl, with not much friends, I don't get paid attention to much, basically if you asked my classmates about me they would say I'm quiet and smart. Maybe they'd say I'm nice, I don't know. But seeing the traffic stats, getting an email saying someone reviewed my story, that's what keeps me going! Thank you all a lot, I love you all, and this is goodbye, I suppose. I doubt I'll be gone long, though, I have ideas for sequels... ;)**


	20. An Epilogue, of Sorts

Henry hopped off the bed. "I almost forgot! I wrote you a song," he sat down at Natalie's keyboard.

Natalie sat next to him. "You wrote me a song?" she asked.

Henry smiled. "Yeah. It was my secret surprise I told you about," he placed his fingers on the keys and played. The song was gentle, like a lullaby, but there was a hint of jazz in it. It was beautiful.

Henry played the final key and turned to Natalie, beaming. "Well?"

"You wrote me a song," Natalie repeated. She felt her eyes begin to well up with tears. She quickly brushed them away.

"It wasn't that hard. I just did what I normally do, but I wrote down the notes I played and gave it a title. I call it "Natalie's Song"," Henry said.

"Creative name," Natalie said.

"Well I used all my creativity on the song," Henry protested.

Natalie gently rested her head on Henry's shoulder. "Henry," she sighed. "You always make me feel like a crappy girlfriend."

Henry raised his eyebrows. "I was hoping for a 'Thank you Henry' or an I love you or maybe a 'you're so perfect and wonderful Henry' but I guess that works too."

"You know what I mean," said Natalie. "Really, you're the best boyfriend ever."

"Yeah, well, I get told that a lot," teased Henry.

Henry suddenly stood up. He picked Natalie up bridal style and kissed her.

"I think you missed more than just me," Natalie smiled. Henry placed her on the bed and flopped down too. Right when they were about to kiss again, Natalie's phone buzzed. She sat up.

_Hey hey Natalie it's Kurt :)_

Natalie furrowed her brow as she texted back her reply.

_Kurt? How did you get this number?_

_ Rach gave it to me._

_ How did Rachel get my number?_

_ Good question!_

Natalie got off the bed. "Ugh, this reminds me, I have to call my mom, I told her we would hang out sometime," Natalie muttered to herself. Henry awkwardly sat alone on the bed.

"Sorry, Henry," Natalie apologized. "I just have so much to do, and-"

Henry wrapped his arms around her. "You don't have to do it all now," He led her back to the bed, where Natalie curled up in Henry's arms.

Henry gently kissed the top of her head. Natalie snuggled a little closer.

"I wish we could stay like this forever. Just you and me, cuddled up together," Natalie murmured.

"That can be arranged," Henry said, swooping down to kiss her. And for what seemed like the millionth time that day, Natalue smiled.

**A/N: Whatttt? I'm back? I couldn't stay away. Actually I just wanted to tie up a few loose ends, and make this a nice even 20 chapters :) I would have had this up yesterday, but something happened and it ended up with me disappearing into my room after dinner and crying and not coming back out again that night. So yeah apparently my brain decided to go back to that crying every night thing. But um I wanted to write a cute little epilogue. Or a bonus chapter or whatever you'd like to call it. And yeah I'll be writing more I have one planned now I'm just gonna go write it and you should all author alert me or follow me on Tumblr for news. Because I'm so popular. I have 4 followers. Kay love you bye!**


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